Brookside Adventures in Sedona, Arizona

Let’s move onto something much more uplifting today, what do you say?

For my 40th Birthday (in December), we were supposed to take a magnificent trip to New Zealand organized by the wonderful and amazing travel company, Indagare (indagare.com). For those of you who don’t know Indagare, it is my great honor and privilege to be able to introduce you!  Indagare puts the magic, adventure and comfort back into traveling. The team is incredibly patient, generous, thoughtful, creative, connected and extraordinary!

When I received my FBC diagnosis, one of my first unfortunate tasks was to contact the Indagare team (who had worked so hard on the New Zealand trip) to put a halt on our plans. I was devastated, for so many reasons, obviously, but not the least of which was because we were all looking so forward to this trip….I mean REALLY looking forward to this trip!  Our 4 3/4 daughter referred to it as our “21-sleep trip to New Zealand to celebrate Mommy’s Birthday.”  Get the devastation?

Indagare founder, Melissa Biggs Bradley and Managaing Editor, Eliza Scott Harris were instantly responsive, supportive and understanding: SL. I told them that we had a series of doctor appointments to come up with a plan (i.e., surgery) and that I would get back to them on whether or not we would be able to go. Long story short: New Zealand is out (until next year!), but I had a week between October 30th and November the 6th (before surgery) to take a trip.

So, their first suggestion was The Enchantment Resort and Mii Amo Spa (http://www.miiamo.com/). Melissa and Eliza both said that there is no better, more healing place for me (and my family) right now than this magical place in Sedona, Arizona.  Because of our previous experience with them, I trusted them implicitly. There is no way to describe how insightful and accurate they were.

Mii Amo and Enchantment are inspired by the wise and exquisite traditions of the Native American people.  There is indescribable beauty and energy in Sedona and specifically in Boynton Canyon. Until this Adventure, I had never been to a place in which balance and harmony are truly palpable.

Our days were filled with azure skies, red rocks, hiking (one of my favorite things in the entire world to do!) and spa treatments.  “Spa treatments” isn’t the right description.  Nah.  Not even close. More apt descriptions are “transformative” and “life changing” healing experiences.   Such healing experiences included:  Mii Amo Spirit, Tarot Card Reading (GREAT REPORT, by the way!), Psychic Massage, Aura Soma, Aura Photo….and the list goes on and on.

I am a FIRM believer in eastern medicine meeting western medicine…and everything in between.  This trip was an incredible SL to this FBC.  Quite honestly, Sedona would not have been at the top of the list of my dream places to travel; however, it was PERFECT, absolutely PERFECT for our entire family for that week.  I’m so incredibly grateful to Melissa and Eliza for their wisdom and guidance.

Another SL to Enchantment is their tennis program.  I’ve been really working on my tennis this summer and this was the last opportunity to play before surgery.  So, I happily signed up for a “Cardio Tennis” class. To me, there is nothing better than combining running and tennis.  Ahhhhh….

Well, I must say that on that particular day, I played better than I have ever played. Ever. One of the men in the class (clearly a life-long player) asked if I have ever been a club champion. A WHAT?  A short time later, he told me that I have the backhand that he has always dreamed of.  HUH? …and no, he wasn’t hitting on me.  I think he was actually serious! I, of course, doubled over into hysterics. Seriously, I could not stop laughing.

Well, you know what happened?  I was pretending that every ball was a FBC cell and nailed each and every one…not letting a single one get away.  I have to say that felt so F-bomb good!

Thank you, Indagare, for giving us exactly what we needed exactly when we needed it! SL!